Parents in Rajasthan’s Didwana-Kuchaman are up in arms as bogus NCERT books proliferate in district bazaars, threatening the integrity of school education. These imposters look convincingly like the real deal from afar but betray their fraudulence upon closer inspection.
Reports highlight glaring discrepancies: advertised 80 GSM quality paper is actually flimsy newspaper stock. No watermarks grace the pages, no print runs or publisher stamps authenticate them—unlike legitimate NCERT and RSTB volumes, which embed these safeguards meticulously.
High-quality printing defines originals, with visible watermarks and crisp text. Fakes offer neither, yet command premium prices, duping unsuspecting buyers. The anger is palpable as families discover they’ve been cheated just as the new academic session ramps up.
Government schools remain undersupplied, creating a vacuum filled by opportunistic traders. Major bookstores have scant RSTB stocks, pushing small vendors toward counterfeits. Depot officials in Nagaur admitted the fakes’ prevalence and vowed higher-level alerts.
DEO Ajit Singh explained the shift to NCERT syllabus for lower grades permits dual book usage, but counterfeit crackdowns require coordinated efforts beyond education department limits. He urged vigilance.
This crisis underscores systemic flaws in textbook distribution amid curriculum changes. Stakeholders demand immediate market sweeps, quality checks at points of sale, and accelerated supply to schools. Failure to curb this racket risks derailing an entire generation’s learning trajectory in the region.
